Detective
by Sullen Sphinx
Summary: It all starts with Blair's tendency to accidentally eavesdrop. Even now, Chuck's pain plucks at her heartstrings. Four-Part Story with spoilers up to and including 2.14. Rated M for safety in the last chapter. Read and review, please!


**Disclaimer**: I do not own Chuck or Blair or any song by No Doubt.

**SPOILERS**: Up to 2.14, eventually. This chapter, just nothing after 2.12

**Note(s)**: Finally, the first chapter of my anticipated fanfiction is here. Lightly inspired--well, I found the inspiration in the song after I finished this first chapter--by the song "Detective" by No Doubt and it also is the name of the fiction.

- - -

Blair Waldorf knew very little about the mysterious Misty Bass.

Eleanor would often try to change the subject when Blair asked her about her friend's mother. One could be very curious at the age of seven and eight. Blair later assumed that Bart was, well, the 'responsible' member of the family, that Misty Bass liked her men younger and more adventurous.

Blair never mentioned anything to Chuck, of course. She had heard that his mother died on her way out of the Andes Mountains, finishing a 'philanthropic' visit with the natives…preferably the hot, tight-bodied, male twenty-somethings. The older, gossiping women of high society liked to dish out more dirt than Gossip Girl.

With a 'responsible' father, where else would Chuck Bass have gotten his playboy, thong-loving, trash-magnet ways if not from his mother?

Blair never really thought much of it unless someone brought it up. Serena got the same answer from her mother about Misty Bass: pure avoidance. As Blair got older, she quickly caught on to the fact that it was an extremely touchy subject for their mothers. Blair never asked her mother again.

Misty Bass was not married to old-money families like the van der Woodsens or the Waldorfs, but apparently, she had turned into a woman of society, and Blair made her own secret assumptions about the enigmatic figure that was Chuck's mother.

Even though Blair secretly longed to know the details about Chuck's late mother, she never found any interest in prying before. Her mother was not a busybody and she never found that need to be nosy.

However, change and drama has always had a way of seeping into Blair's perfect, coifed, patent leather, designer, Upper East Side life. It was not about to stop now.

Blair was not a frequent eavesdropper and she secretly prided herself on the fact that she did not have the insatiable need to know every little detail about the lives of others. However, she has had her share of overhearing things…sometimes very juicy and dirty things. They were usually things she could use to her advantage. She was coiffed and elegant but she still had the _balls_ to resort to blackmail.

Bart Bass was 'responsible,' alright. He was as responsible as he could be having a different woman on his arm every two or three nights. However, that was only after the death of his first and most-beloved wife, Misty. Blair really understood the saying, "Like father, like son."

- - -

Blair was on the way to visit Serena at the van der Woodsen-Bass penthouse. They were on the outs less than a week ago but you know Blair and Serena, best-friends-for-never.

She entered the penthouse and headed out of the elevator to make her way to Serena's room, where she had no doubt her best friend would be. However, something stopped her from continuing. She heard the soft but stern voices of Chuck and…Nate. She hid behind one of the pillars, glad that the elevator did not make any noises like the ones in hotels or corporate offices.

Blair listened intently, focused on what the two boys were saying.

"Chuck, what does your mother have to do with anything? She's been dead since we were like…five, right?"

"Nathaniel, that's the problem. It's not true. It's just that…ugh…it's what my father told me to tell everyone."

"Why?"

"He didn't want the Upper East Side to know that I killed my own mother."

"Chuck, what the—"

"She died…giving birth to me."

Blair let out the breath she had been holding. She felt a pang in her heart and she could not deny that it was for him.

"I thought she died on the copter, in the Andes Mountains during one of her philanthropy trips."

"No, that just the lame excuse my father told everyone. There were so many people that he had to pay off to make that the 'public story.' Anyway, she had a weak immune system in the first place, the doctors said. "

"Chuck…I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault but apparently it's mine. My father blames me for her death."

"Don't think like that, Chuck. It is not your fault at all. Nobody's to blame."

"Sure. Whatever. Let's get going. The Knicks won't wait for us, even if we have those deluxe box seats."

Blair knew they were coming towards the elevator and she didn't know what to do. Surely they would see her if she tried to get on the elevator. She had been eavesdropping and she would rather die than have Chuck know that she heard the previous conversation. She didn't know what had led to that conversation. She desperately wanted to know, but she knew she should not stick around to get caught.

Before the two could even get their eyesight into the foyer, Blair ran, almost sliding and falling, to the coat closet across the way. She hoped that she did not make too much noise as she shuffled in her new, dark red and velvet Christian Louboutin pumps and closed the coat closet behind her. She waited about a minute and it seemed as if she was safe.

She quietly creaked open the closet door and saw that the coast was clear. She quickly exited the closet and sauntered over to the large, gold-gilded mirror. She adjusted her appearance and quickly made her way to Serena's room.

Opening the door, she greeted her sometimes-friend with a smile, even though happiness was not what she was feeling right now. She was feeling confusing and empahty.

"B! You're here!"

"Yes, indeed, S. I am here!"

"I thought we could go out. Party it up!" Serena exclaimed happily.

"I don't know. I think I had a change of heart on the way over here. Why don't we go into the movie room and watch something? We could have some of those brownies and blondies that Consuela made yesterday!" Blair said hopefully.

"What about that diet you're always on?" Serena questioned.

"Screw my diet. I'm going to indulge in junk food. Just for today, though. Tomorrow, I'm calling Xavier," Blair stated, hoping that Serena would not ask her if there was something wrong. Thank God that Serena did not. Oh, and Xavier was her extremely good-looking personal trainer.

After hearing the 'real' story of Chuck's mother death, she needed some peace…and some of Lady Godiva's finest.

She felt selfish, indulging and sulking when it wasn't even her mother, but Chuck's. However, when she overheard their conversation, she felt her heart breaking for Chuck. She felt bad for him because of his mother and because of the way things had been happening lately.

They were no longer chasing after one another. They decided to stop the game and with that, they came to a conclusion.

_Maybe in the future._

The future had seemed an eternity to Blair, but now, her mind was burdened with other issues. Strangely, Chuck's mother was one of them.

"So, B, what do you want to watch?" Serena asked, hoping that Blair would pick something other than _Sabrina_ or _Breakfast at Tiffany's_.

"I don't care. You pick," Blair said absent-mindedly. She reached over to her giant Chloé Paddington bag and pulled out her Mac Book. She turned her screen away from Serena as she took her computer off of standby. She decided to google Chuck's mother. However, all she was getting was society records, articles on her philanthropy and the fake articles written about the feigned reason of her death. She kept scanning the results until she found what looked like a high school reunion page.

The title read 'High School Class of 1976: Keaton S. Byrnes High School.' She knew that Chuck's mother wasn't born in the Upper East Side and that Bart Bass's father was new money. However, Bart Bass and his father had worked hard to get to where they were now. Most people were extremely aware that the Bass family was not of old, high society money but since the family was rolling in their millions, they let that _little_ fact slide, for now, anyway.

Blair scrolled through the main page, looking at pictures of students in hideous 1970s brand name and homemade clothing. She raised an eyebrow in almost-disgust until she saw a picture of Chuck's mother. Her face softened when she saw the image of the woman who was obviously Chuck's mother. Chuck looked a lot like her and Blair saw that immediately.

His mother was beautiful but not in the Upper East Side, conventional way. She was shorter than Bart, obviously and had a fuller figure than her own mother, Lily and all the other botoxed mothers of the Upper East Side. Misty Bass wasn't a size two in high school, that's for sure, but Blair still admired her. She was pretty in a way even the fashion industry could not describe. They couldn't touch that kind of beauty, Blair thought.

Looking at the bottom of the page, Blair found a link that said 'Profiles.' She was surprised to see that there was a list of links that were named after what seemed to be the names of the seniors in that graduating class. Blair had no idea what Misty Bass's maiden name was. So, she scanned the very long list of students, coming across names like "Candy Martin" and "Morning Stewart." _They named their kids after junk food and the time of the day. Nice_, Blair thought to herself with a little snort.

"What is it?" Serena asked, looking from the DVD collection and over at her friend who had her face glued to her Mac Book.

"Oh, nothing, S," she said, looking towards Serena and then looking back to her computer, continuing through the list of seniors from the class of 1976.

"Okay. Well, I've picked the movie. We're going to watch _Say Anything_, alright?" Serena asked, already at the DVD player, putting in the disc.

"Fine, S," Blair said, not looking at her friend but still staring at the screen. Serena knew how much Blair hated those 1980's chick flicks. Although, one of Blair's guilty pleasure movies was _Sixteen Candles_. When they were ten years old and Nate was still not the holding-hands-with and kissing girls kind of guy, Blair would escape by watching Samantha Baker become smitten with Jake Ryan. Even at ten, Blair couldn't wait to be sixteen and or for Nate to finally 'grow up' and be her very own Jake Ryan.

However, Serena was totally convinced that she connected more to Ginny, Samantha's older sister—the one who was getting married the day after Sam's birthday. Blair denied this, of course. As for _Say Anything_, Blair was convinced that Dan Humphrey was once Serena's Lloyd Dobler. He was once so in love with Serena that he _would_ stand outside her the van der Woodsen-Bass penthouse, holding an old stereo above his head that was playing bad 80's music and trying to profess his love to her. Blair secretly thought it was romantic…in that annoyingly, movie-magical, tacky way.

As Serena started quoting the movie out loud, Blair went back to concentrating on the page. She scanned the very long list and eventually…she found the name 'Misty.' Misty Bass was once Misty Tennyson. _Wow, at least she had a semi-sophisticated sounding name. Her first name sounds a little white-trashy, not that I would ever say that out loud_, Blair thought to herself.

Although Blair did feel a little bad about thinking about Chuck's mother like that, she couldn't help it. She had heard the secret and malicious rumors. They were probably started by the uptight and snide women who secretly wanted to be in Misty Bass's place. Honestly, Bart Bass was loaded and Blair had heard that in his prime, he had once been a fox. _That's where Chuck must have gotten his charm_, Blair thought in the back of her mind.

She clicked on the link named 'Tennyson, Misty' and saw a page dedicated to pictures of her with other people and what looked like a list of "Most Likely To…" questions. Blair's eyes widened when she read that Misty was most likely to backpack around Western Europe…Barefoot and Penniless.

Misty Bass was once a tree-hugging, mountain babe. Chuck definitely did not inherit that 'strength' from his mother. Blair knew that Chuck Bass was an 'inside boy,' through and through.

She was also 'Always Known For' being the sweetest person around. Blair's heart softened at the thought. _Perhaps…Chuck might have been a sweet kid_, Blair thought shockingly to herself. She felt her heartstrings stretch and vibrate with empathy for him. She knew that if he were here right now, he'd tell her that he would not want her pity. However, her empathy was coming his way, whether he liked it or not.

Blair looked at Misty's nicknames. Her friends had called her things like Mist and Mists and…Steve? Where the hell did that strange nickname come from? Why you would call—or nickname—a girl Steve was beyond Blair. She then continued looking at the page, admiring the pictures of Chuck's smiling and happy mother. At the end of the page, Blair was shocked to see a picture of an older —but still beautiful—Misty Tennyson. She was standing with a younger-looking Bart Bass. It was an engagement announcement, said the caption. At the time of the photo, Misty Tennyson was still Misty Tennyson. She hadn't been made a Bass yet.

Serena was still busy watching John Cusack and talking to Blair—not that Blair was listening—about how cute John Cusack was. Blair had no opinion on his young, 1980's self. He was much too plain and not sophisticated enough for Blair.

All the while, Blair looked at the pictures of Chuck's mother and her heart went out to him; not that she would tell him. He wouldn't want that. Blair decided to take the plunge and talk to Serena about it. After all, Serena was her best friend. She couldn't talk to anyone else about this.

"Serena," Blair said almost softly.

"Yes?" Serena replied, still focused on the scene appearing on the plasma screen before her.

"Can I talk to you about something?" Blair asked in an almost irritated tone, hoping she would not regret what she was about to bring up with Serena. She highly doubted Serena knew anything about Chuck's mother either. It seemed to be a well-kept, tight-laced Bass family secret. Blair would not be surprised if Lily did not know the real reason of Misty Bass's death.

Serena quickly caught on to the seriousness of Blair's tone. She grabbed the remote and quickly paused the movie.

"What is it, B?" Serena said, turning to her friend. Serena had a concerned look on her face; one that Blair hoped would not jump to conclusions. That was the last thing she wanted.

"Do you know what happened to Chuck's mom?" Blair asked tentatively, hoping she did not just make a mistake.

"Well, she died in a helicopter crash when Chuck was really young. Why?" Serena said, looking up at her friend with a questioning look.

"I don't think that's the true story," Blair said, looking intently at her friend.

"What could it be then?" Serena said, intrigued. She wanted desperately to know that Blair was getting at.

"As I was coming off the elevator, I heard Nate and Chuck talking. Chuck said to Nate that his mother died…giving birth to him," Blair said with heavy heart.

"What?" Serena exclaimed almost a little too loud. Blair shot her a look. Who knew if someone was still venturing around the house? Blair did not want to take any chances. She did not want to be known as an eavesdropper.

"I—I think Bart didn't want people to know that his son…killed his wife," Blair said, cringing at the last part of the sentence. It dawned on her…the tension been Chuck and Bart.

"Why that's awful!" Serena once again exclaimed. Blair knew she had to say something.

"Keep it down, S. I don't think even Lily knows. I don't think it should be announced for everyone to hear," Blair said hastily, still with a pained expression on her face.

"Oh," Serena simply replied.

Blair did not respond. She merely nodded and took another look at her Mac Book before she deleted her search history and then pressed the command and letter 'Q' buttons, exiting out of the internet window. She had the feeling she might need to hide the evidence of her search for some reason. Not that people would be able to get on her computer anyway. She had everything case-sensitive and password-locked.

Serena hesitated and leaned closer to Blair with a look of pure, worried curiosity. "I hate to think what it must be like for Chuck. I mean, he's the stepbrother that I wouldn't have asked for but…" Serena trailed off in thought and Blair understood her but didn't respond. She was rather consumed with her thoughts of Chuck. It dawned on her that the behaviors he possessed were not at all attributed to his lack of character but rather…displacement of good judgment. His father did not respect him or believe him to be worthy because he 'killed' his own mother and his father's beloved wife. Her sympathy and heart still reached out for him, whether he would have wanted it or not.

Blair was feeling a little guilty for toying with him in the past months, even though some would say that she had nothing to feel sorry for. She couldn't help it, not that she would admit that to anyone. She had a reputation to uphold.

Serena slowly reverted her attention back to the paused screen and a moment later she used the remote to unpause it. Blair put her Mac Book on sleep, closed it, put it on the end table and then slipped off her Manolo Blahniks and her dark gray, Galeb coat by Trina Turk. Serena was in sweatpants for Christ's sake! Blair could 'let her hair down' a little bit. She then lied down on her stomach and tried to watch the movie with Serena, even though it wasn't her selection—or taste. She wanted a distraction from Chuck Bass and his mother.

She wasn't in need of this plague even though deep down, she knew it would be troubling her for days to come. Chuck Bass had a way of getting under her skin, even if he wasn't directly involved.


End file.
